Enrichment · Life Skills

Keep it,
or shred it.

Most households keep too much of the wrong paper and cannot find the one form they need. Write down each document once: where it is, the rule for how long to keep it and when its clock started. The date it can go works itself out.

Add a documentWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Life skills kit, $29 for 28 items.

Your documents

The worked example is made up: an old tax return past its date, a home closing file, a retirement form to keep for life and a year of bank statements. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Life Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per document or set with its kind, year, paper or digital, where it is kept, the keep rule and the date the clock starts, plus four checks that someone else could find it. Works out the date each can be shredded; flags papers past their date, ones coming due within 90 days, a rule with no start date and paper with no second copy. The side panel counts what can go and what is kept for life.
Who it is for
Adults and young adults setting up their own files, couples combining paperwork, and family members sorting a parent’s papers.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per document. Prints one record, an inventory of every document or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Life skills kit ($29) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Start with one drawer or folder; one record can cover a set, such as a year’s returns.
  2. Pick the keep rule and enter the date its clock starts.
  3. Shred what is past its date.
  4. Scan anything that exists only on paper.
  5. Print the inventory and tell one trusted person where it is.

Add a document

How long the IRS can ask

One filing date, three clocksA 2022 return filed in April 2023202320242025202620272028202920302031Most tax records3 yearsIncome underreported by over 25%6 yearsBad debt or worthless security7 yearsOne filing date, three clocksA 2022 return filed in April 2023202320242025202620272028202920302031Most tax records3 yearsIncome underreported by over 25%6 yearsBad debt or worthless security7 years
These are the IRS periods for federal returns. A state can audit for longer, and a lender or insurer may ask for older papers.

The three-year rule

The IRS can usually assess more tax for three years after you file (or the due date, if you filed early). Keep a return and the records behind it at least that long; six years if you left off income worth more than 25 percent of what you reported, seven years if you claimed a bad debt or worthless security, and indefinitely if no return was filed.

Records to keep longer

Keep home and investment purchase records until the period runs out for the year you sell, since they set the gain. Keep Form 8606 for nondeductible IRA contributions for as long as the IRA exists, so you are not taxed twice on withdrawals.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. How long should I keep records? and Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records (irs.gov).
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements, on Form 8606 basis (irs.gov).
  3. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 523, Selling Your Home, on basis records (irs.gov).
  4. Federal Trade Commission. Protecting Personal Information and safe disposal of papers (consumer.ftc.gov).

The worked example is made up. These are federal rules in general terms, not tax or legal advice; state tax agencies, lenders and insurers can need records longer. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.